Abandoned - Bakersfield - Story 92

[Abandoned]

This story was first posted on May 20, 2023


Intro


  This is the 92nd story in the Smallville Series.  There was one small group of storm survivors from the east coast who did not want to return to their old town that was nearly destroyed by the outbreak of tornadoes that struck the northeast in year 53 SVT.  The town was being rebuilt and was now called Land Ho.  This group of young people did not want to be fisherman; they did not want to go back to their old life.  They wanted to farm. They were all orphans and had nothing or no one to return to.  When others returned to the old town, they decided to go farther inland to the west, straight west from Land Ho of story 91, and just south of the Festival Grounds of story 69. They found good land to farm and hoped that the wind would be at their backs, the sun warm upon their faces, and the rain would fall softly upon their fields.  It was the spring of year 60 SVT.





Map seed # 673109414         Valley,   Small,   Fair,   Disasters Off,   Easy-seed (8 Families)



Mods activated for this map and load order are:


Map Changing and Starting Mods:   Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, Spring Terrain, override Map, Settlers Deco, Kid Deco Tree Spring, Kid Tree Replacer Spring, Kid New Flora Edit, Family Start

Tweak Mods: Better Fields, Fishing Dock +25%, Increased CC,  Longer Living Orchard, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille),  Rock Respawn, Tiny Smoke

Major or Must Have Mods:    An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates,  Jinxie Bitty Chicken Coop, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Forest Deep, Kid Hobbits, Kid Tiny, Kid Workplace

Supporting Mods:   Kid Bakery Garden, Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco Magic Mushrooms, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyards, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Washing Mod, Kid Workshop, Maypole



    Wouldn't you know it, weary traveler, we found a nice piece of farmland that had no storm damage or ruins, and there was another group of survivors that wanted the land too.  We said we had others coming to join us, they said they did too.  They were Hobbits, yes, Hobbits from the Shire.  We were all about the same ages and suffered the same loses from the devastating storms.  We just couldn't go back.  They could see we were near despair; they said we should stay; we could settle here together. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrlhn1H1EWw   Lean on Me - Bill Withers


  Come sit by the fire, weary traveler, the spring evenings are chilly, and I'll tell you all about our town.




Chapter 1


  Although we had much in common, the differences between us and the Hobbits were quite obvious.  We might all be the same ages but they were more knowledgeable and experienced then we were.  We were 4 young couple; they were 4 young couples with 3 young children each plus cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs.  They had been to the Festival Grounds, just to the north, before coming here.  We had been struggling to survive since the storm hit; they had been traveling the area helping others.  They were more prepared to start a new life here then we were; they had already gathered building materials. They had 2 carts of supplies; we had one.  We both had potatoes and we both agreed this spring we had much to celebrate.  They asked us to stay.





  Together we erected a Maypole, a small thing we had in common.  The Hobbits put up a small welcome sign by their carts to remind us that we are welcome to whatever they had.  We said the same.  We agreed they should settle closest to the river with the animals, we would settle inland, just over the small hill, and we would build a well.  The sun indeed was warm upon our faces as we cleared the land to make room for 2 crop fields, one for cabbage and one for potatoes.  And when we were done and the crops were planted, the spring rain fell softly upon them. 




Chapter 2


  The Hobbits were hard workers but we often heard their laughter and singing being carried on the wind.  The first thing they did was settle the pigs in the low-lying muddy area by the north bend of the river.  They thought the area may have been flooded by snow melt and runoff from the steep hills across the river.  There were plenty of mushrooms and a wild apple tree, making it a perfect spot for the pigs.  We were not familiar with this strange pink creature but the Hobbits assured us that the meat was very good.  There would be apples, mushrooms, and pork added to our diets, and leather for coat making.  Two of the Hobbit families carved out and moved into the giant mushrooms growing in that area.  We thought these Hobbits were a little bit strange.




  Another Hobbit family built a standard Hobbit hole house closer to the stockpile.  They fenced in an area in front of their house for the cows and planted some corn to feed them.  There would be milk for all the children plus occasional beef and leather. There would also be fish caught from the fishing tree on the nearby riverbank. 



  Two of the 3 families already housed had 6-year-old sons; a school was needed so one was built there by the cow farm.  It would not be too far for our children to attend when they were old enough.  The son of the last Hobbit family to be housed missed school but he was happy to move in with his parents and learn how to tend the sheep and farm.  They planted carrots, oats, and potatoes with the sheep in their fenced in yard.  They would make wool coats from the sheep's wool and some of the wool would go into storage for making warmer coats; a small storage barn was built next to the stockpile.  Warm coats would be needed soon; there was already a nip in the air by the time that last family was settled.




Chapter 3


   
  The Hobbits offered to help build our houses but we were a bit taller than the Hobbits and their house were a bit low, and then of course there were those mushroom houses.  We wanted to build stone houses like our grandparents from the old country told us about, so we said no thank you to the Hobbit's offer. 

  The Hobbits said they would be willing to teach us anything we wanted to know about crops and animal raising.  Since we told them we had some experience with sheep and chickens, they gave us the flock of chickens to raise.   



  We had the cabbages and potatoes planted right on time in spring, and both were doing well.  A small house for one couple was built along the road.  A well, stockpile, and small barn were built there too.  Our small house was built behind the barn along with a small chicken coop.  Oh, I didn't tell you, my name is Vannine and my husband is Esto.  The harvest was almost complete before the other 2 couples we came here with were settled in their new houses.  All four of us couples had a newborn that summer, 2 boys and 2 girls.   





  In autumn we collected branches and wild foods like we did back in our old town.  We saw the Hobbits were doing the same.  They showed us how to build coverings over the animals and washlines.  They built a tailor next to the farmyard with the sheep; we would all soon have warm clothes.  They also built a smith back behind the stockpile so none of us would run out of tools.  We were lucky the Hobbits asked us to stay here with them.








Chapter 4





  By early spring of our 2nd year, a tiny town hall was built to keep birth records and inventory records.  The Hobbits were not happy that there were no carrots; Hobbits really like carrots and potatoes.  They promptly planted a carrot patch back by the school, but not just any old carrot patch, oh no.  This was a special carrot patch, a Patty Proudfoot's carrot patch.  According to the Hobbits, Patty Proudfoot won many festival contests because he could walk through a carrot patch without stepping on a single carrot.  We were welcome to practice if we were planning to go to the festival grounds.  Children with their small feet were especially good at it and always won prizes. 



  Across from the carrot patch, next to the school, the Hobbits built a rabbit garden for the rabbits they caught in the forest over winter.  The school children would learn how to care for the rabbits.  The children were not just regular students; they were apprentices.  They did not just sit in a classroom but went to workplaces to learn the skills.  Workers would come to the school to tell about their work.

  It was that spring that we got more workers. 




Chapter 5


  After a cold winter, we were low on firewood.  We all went out to gather branches as soon as the snow melted; the Hobbits made us a small branch cart we kept between our house and the stockpile.  Our supply of logs was getting low also; we were making more tools in anticipation of more migrants coming.  Our Hobbits were expecting some that they met at the Festival Grounds; life there had gotten a bit too busy for them with all the visitors.



  Three of the four families that arrived in spring were Hobbits.  One family with 2 children nearing school age built a Hobbit house back behind the school and rabbit garden.  Another family found a Mother tree not far from there and built another Hobbit house; they would be foresters.  Their adult son was living with them but their daughter moved into another mushroom house downriver where another fishing tree and a patch of mushrooms was discovered.  The Hobbits seemed to like mushrooms almost as much as they liked potatoes and carrots.  Another Hobbit house was built by the mushroom patch for an adult daughter of one of our original Hobbit families.





  Not far from that mushroom patch was a spot that the Hobbits were paying particular attention too.   It seemed to be an ordinary hedgerow with a wild apple tree, rose hip bush, and some wild oats and honey.  Upon closer inspection we discovered what was getting all the attention; there were wild strawberries in the hedgerow and the Hobbits were watching and waiting for the first strawberry of the season to ripen.  Yes, a bit strange.  The Hobbits really liked to eat.



  The last Hobbit family that arrived built a Hobbit house down the road from the barn plus a sausage shop next to it where their adult son would work.  Next to the barn a tiny woodcutter stump was set up.  The husband would chop wood there; firewood was needed for the stew pot where his wife would cook for anyone who wanted a hot meal.  Tables, chairs, and benches were set up there.  We were invited to join them whenever we wanted.  You must have a bowl of that Hobbit stew, weary traveler; it is delicious, especially on a chilly winter, spring, summer, or fall day. 




Chapter 6


  That was another noticeable difference between us and the Hobbits.  Their families worked growing food or raising animals at home in their yards.  They often gathered someplace to eat together.  We grew our food in farm fields, took the crops to market or storage, picked up what we wanted, and went home to cook and eat.  We liked eating stew with the Hobbits.

  The last family to arrive that spring was the family we met just before coming here.  The couple and their 3 children were on their way back to our old town on the coast.  They'd been with a group of survivors that fought constantly over what little food and supplies there were.  The couple did not want that life for their children.  At that time we only knew our old town was being rebuilt and we did not want to go back.  We told the couple that we were going a bit west to a less hilly and rocky area to farm, and that they were welcome to join us there.  We were happy they came. 



  The couple built a house by the cabbage field for themselves, one adult daughter, and their newborn.  Their other adult daughter built a small cottage by the barn.  The couple was quite a bit older than we were so we didn't really remember them; they probably lived in the older part of town.  But they remembered how to do what we only remembered our grandparents telling us about and that was how grow food in a greenhouse, and how to bake those delicious pies we got from the bakery. 



  According to instructions, we built an herb garden across from the barn.  Next to it we built a small nursery for sunflowers, and next to that we built an oil press where the kernels would be pressed into oil for baking.  We built one greenhouse for the plum tree seedlings the couple brought with them along with those sunflower kernels we planted.  We built another greenhouse for oat seeds we got from the Hobbits.  We needed grain and planting it in the greenhouse we would have a year-round harvest.  Soon we would have pie and would have something to give back to the Hobbits for all they had done for us.




Chapter 7

  We built a mill at the far end of the farm fields, straight down the road from the storage barn.  We built another storage barn next to the mill so that the oats from the greenhouse would be stored closer to the mill.  The bakery was built next to the herb garden across from our original barn.  The oil from the press was taken to the bakery along with freshly milled flour and apples.  We had no plums from the greenhouse yet, and we knew how much the Hobbits liked apples.  We soon had delicious hot apple pies cooling on the window sill.










  With so many more oats from the greenhouse, the Hobbits built a mill also.  They built a bakery and began making apple-filled donuts for us.  Anyone who's been to a Hobbit Festival knows how much Hobbits like competition, so they suggested we all eat the pies and donuts and then vote which we like best.  Our pies won, only because there were more Hobbits than survivors.  Every Hobbit voted for our pies and every survivor voted for their donuts.  Both were delicious.  Together, we decided to name our town Bakersfield.

  We certainly ate well in Bakersfield.  Together we raised or gathered:  apples, berries, plums, and strawberries: cabbage, carrots, corn, herbs, kernels, mushrooms, oats, onions, potatoes, roots, rose hips, sun oil, wild honey, and wild oats: beef, eggs, fish, flour, milk, pork, rabbit meat, sausages, and stew: apple pie and donuts.




Chapter 8







    We had a lot to be thankful for that May Day; we lived side by side with our dear friends, the Hobbits.  Together we numbered 58; 30 adults, 6 students, and 22 young children.  We were all happy and healthy and well fed. 



  There were differences; they were a bit obsessed with potatoes, mushrooms, and strawberries, and they lived in Hobbit Holes and mushrooms.  Despite the differences, we were also a lot alike.  They are our dearest friends;  they helped us when we were down and needed them the most.  They are always there for us and us for them; winter, spring, summer, or fall.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcJbzuyp6VY    You Got a Friend - Carole King


I wish you such friends, weary traveler, but I know you must be going back to the east coast now.  Please, have some apple pie or a donut before you go.


The End